NBA Shakes Up All Star-Game

The NBA has decided to shake up the All-Star Weekend by changing the All-Star Game format from East vs West to a Draft.

Earlier last year, the NBA changed the format of the All-Star game to a draft, where two captains, representing each conference, picks players from either conference to play with them during the game. This year the two captains are LeBron James, representing the East, and Steph Curry, representing the West.

Many NBA fans love the new format including freshman Jack Rosenfeld, who says that [the draft] “makes it more interesting.”

Others like Sophomore Naleeya Osmon believe the draft will make the game fairer. “The East is trash and the West is much better”In the past ten all-star games, all but 2 were won by the western conference team.

Senior Rayan Rashid doesn’t like the decision to change the format. “I honestly didn’t like it. I liked the old format of East vs West”

Some debated whether to televise the draft or not. This year, it was decided to not televise the draft, which left some fans disappointed. “I don’t see why not. Everyone wanted it to be televised,” says Rashid.

Freshman Nisaiah Teixeira doesn’t want it to be televised as it would put pressure on the captains to make fan picks. “Televising the draft would cause players to pick players they don’t actually want to pick.”

The NBA also increased the amount of money that players get when they win. It was increased from $50,000 to $100,000. The bonus for losing stayed the same at $25,000.

Naleeya says that it won’t change anything as “they already make 30 million dollars a year, $100,000 don’t matter to them.”

Others like Rayan still think it will increase the play as “people try to make money.”

Each team also represents a charity, with the winning team receiving more money to donate towards their charity. The NBA will donate $350,000 to the winning team’s charity, and $150,000 to the losing team’s charity.

LeBron’s charity is After-School All-Stars Los Angeles, which provides out of school activities to students. Curry chose Brotherhood Crusade, which works with underserved youth in South Los Angeles.

Despite the lack of defense, Nisaiah still enjoys watching the game. “The All-Star game is always fun. They always score at least 150 points every year.” Last year, the two teams combined for 374 points, with the West winning with a point total of an absurd 192 points.

The All-Star game is not the only thing fans watch as there is a growing number of smaller festivities like the Celebrity Game and the Skills Challenge.

Naleeya and Rashid both agree that the best part is the 3-Point Shootout, with Rayan adding that “there are lots of really good shooters these days.” The 3 pointer has become an integral part of the modern game with players and teams shooting more and more each year.

Still, fans want more things to be changed or added to the weekend. One thing that could be added is a 1v1 tournament, proposed Jack. Rayan believes nothing should be changed as “it’s good as it is.”